----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I THINK I'M DYING
by Harold Kohl
Social Darwinism in Cyberpunk
In the 1870s, the English sociologist Herbert Spencer applied Charles
Darwin's theories of biological evolution to human behavior and
institutions. Spencer used the idea of survival of the fittest in biology
and theorized human society had evolved the same way (Cooper 15). Social
Darwinism, as Spencer's theory is called, pits everyone against each other
to survive in the world where humans are soldiers in a war for survival. If
a person is poor, it is their fault and no one should help that person rise
above the poverty status. If a person is rich, they are worthy of the
position based on their actions, even if morally wrong. So if one is poor,
the person will be weeded out of society while the rich survive.
The Social Darwinism of the nineteenth century contains several facets such
as political, corporate, and individual forms of the theory. Although all
these facets are found in Cyberpunk literature the genre mainly depicts the
lower class of America's culture fighting for survival.
Many may argue this drive to survive, this Social Darwinism, can be found in
genres other than Cyberpunk. In some ways that idea is true about Social
Darwinism. For instance, the movie The Godfather had the Mafia families
fighting for control of the crime syndicate. Sure they were struggling for
survival, but what sets Cyberpunk apart is that absolutely everyone is
struggling for survival. All the characters are looking for some sort of
angle to get them ahead.
Also, Cyberpunk's survival of the fittest is based mainly on the technology
of the times. Whoever has the faster interface or what corporation has the
newest developed
cyber-eye enhancement will win the evolutionary race. In something like The
Godfather, the bigger Italian family will always win. With Cyberpunk, a
fourteen-year old kid with stolen software could dump a cool million into a
bank account. Not just the strong will survive, but the one with the
strongest technology will triumph. This is Cyberpunk.
For example, the story "Burning Chrome" by William Gibson illustrates the
genre's theme of characters manipulating technology to survive. The
protagonists of Gibson's story are Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine, a couple
of hackers waiting for their big score to come through. They need the
financial windfall quickly too, since Bobby is loosing his edge at the
computer console and isn't getting any younger. "He was twenty-eight, Bobby,
and that's old for a console cowboy," (Gibson 170). Jack's job is to simply
keep up with the hottest software to give the pair a greater edge.
In general Gibson is describing two hackers losing the evolutionary battle
for survival. At age twenty-eight, Bobby is already outdated. Cyberpunk is
quick and dirty when it comes to survival. The evolutionary fight is hard
and normally a character has one shot, like these two characters. What Jack
and Bobby need is something to place them above the rest of the hacker
world, and in Cyberpunk that can only be found though manipulating
technology. This edge above competition comes in the form of a black object:
It was obviously some kind of plug-in military program. Out of the mailer,
it looked like the magazine of a small automatic rifle, coated with
nonreflected black plastic. The edges and corners showed bright metal, it
had been knocked around for a while. (Gibson 172)
This black plastic object is what gave Bobby and Jack the edge needed to
step up from lowlife hackers to rich men. Jack buys this strange object and
the two realize its
potential for hackers. The black object is a Russian military software that
disassembles any program and therefore any security counter-measures. After
loading a fortune into a Swiss bank account the two are rich, and a local
crime boss named Chrome doesn't have a penny to her name.
Like many other Cyberpunk stories, the protagonists are in the lower levels
of society--the one-celled organisms at the bottom of a pond in Missouri.
The characters struggle any way they can to make ends meet under the long
shadow of world corporations or crime syndicates. In Cyberpunk, the only way
out is to kiss technology on the lips and use it till the characters live or
die. For Automatic Jack and Bobby Quine, the edge needed to find survival
was with the Russian program. In other words, the single-celled organisms in
the pond went through mitosis and became fish. Like the single-celled
organisms, Jack and Bobby were rarely noticed in the world. When the hackers
received the Russian program they raised their status in society, as if
becoming fish in a pond.
Cyberpunk does not give its characters second chances. One either makes it
in society, or loses terribly in the gritty world of Cyberpunk. Jack gives
the best example when speaking about Chrome after he and Bobby stole her
money, "We'd taken her for everything she had. She was back on the street
again. I doubted she'd live till dawn," (Gibson 189) . Even if one does make
the big score, a cyberpunk could fall from the evolutionary chain due to the
continual drive for survival in the movement. Chrome was not strong enough
so some one beat her in the struggle to survive, and Darwinism probable
killed her.
Not all Cyberpunk stories follow the mainstream formula of the protagonist
surviving the fight of the fittest. "Freezone" by John Shirley is one such
example.
"Freezone" follows the story of an outdated rocker named Rickenharp as he
tries to keep
"classic rock n' roll" alive. the problem stems from minimono, a new
technology in music that lets the user synthesize songs directly from the
brain. Of course, the old rocker believes in guitars and drums and refuses
to utilize the popular new art form.
Minimono might have killed rock n' roll in "Freezone," but Rickenharp sealed
his own fate in society when he rejected the technology. The minimono artist
embraces the new technology fighting the war with Rickenharp and his guitar.
The old rocker's reluctance to adapt to the technology led to his demise. He
had a chance in the survival of the fittest war but Rickenharp passed
victory by. Social Darwinism prevailed and ate the rocker whole. Again,
Cyberpunk is about winning in the war of evolution, with technology as a
major weapon. Those who do not use the technology fall flat and are piled
into the lower class of the Cyberpunk world. Rickenharp gave up the
struggle, although it was almost hopeless, and became an another
single-celled organism in Missouri.
The role of technology in a struggle of social Darwinism is the basis for
several Cyberpunk stories created in the past and present. What is
fascinating about this theme of technology and Darwinism is that it is
slowly becoming a reality. As seen in the later decades of the Twentieth
century, technology has been a major factor in the lives of ordinary people.
In the job market for instance, think of the skills needed to hired in any
business. A secretary needs to be familiar with the latest desktop computer
software to write reports or files. A car mechanic almost needs to be an
electronic engineer in order to fix a broken fuel injector. In the present
work force, a person needs to understand and utilize current technology in
order to survive. In the coming decades, acceptance and application of new
technology could decide, like in Cyberpunk, if one floats like algae or
swims like an Angel Fish.
Works Cited
Cooper, John Milton. Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920. New
York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1990.
Gibson, William. "Burning Chrome." Burning Chrome. Ed. William Gibson. New
York: Ace Books, 1987. 168-191.
Shirley, John. "Freezone." Mirrorshades. Ed. Bruce Sterling. New York: Ace
Books, 1988. 139-177.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
close file